And we are right back to supply and demand. Where we were always were in reference to oil or any other commodity bought and sold on the world market. Something the ETP modelers reject but has always been the case.

OPEC agreed to extend the production cut for another nine months, but with no deeper cuts. Oil traders were not impressed and oil prices actually fell on the news, with WTI falling into the $40s again.

Oil-producing nations belonging to Opec have agreed to extend production cuts for a further nine months. Energy ministers have been meeting in Vienna to discuss extending the cut, which was due to expire next month. Non-Opec members, led by Russia, have also agreed to another nine-month production cut.

Chris Beauchamp at online trading firm IG, described Mr Falih's belief that greater reductions were not needed "quaint", while Alexandre Andlauer of equity research firm Alphavalue said Opec's strategy was "old-fashioned". Neil Wilson at ETX Capital said Opec members "bottled it", adding: "A nine-month extension just isn't enough to really lift oil prices as we'll continue to see US shale fill the gap. Having said they'd do whatever it takes, Opec is looking a bit toothless now.

Brent crude is 1.6% lower at $52.35 a barrel following confirmation of the extension until March 2018, while US oil is down 3.2% at $49.73.

Perhaps more companies are adjusting to the fairly stable oil price environment and putting more capex into play:

Canada's Husky Approves $1.6 Billion West White Rose Project

Reuters - Canada's Husky Energy Inc said on Monday it is proceeding with its delayed $1.6 billion West White Rose project off the Atlantic coast. Husky said that the first oil is expected in 2022 and the project could achieve a gross peak production rate of about 75,000 bopd by 2025. The company, which is controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, also said that a new oil discovery has been made at the Northwest White Rose production area.

Husky shares were up 1.6 percent in afternoon trading, while the benchmark Canadian share index was flat. {Apparently the market liked the news.}

My understanding is that Husky got some pretty exceptional concessions from the NS provincial gov't which made it economic. I guess the NS gov't figured out that a small piece of the pie is better than nothing at all.

.My understanding is that the Canadian tar sands are in financial trouble below 60$/bI'm sure that the already established operators can make a buck at less for new projects it's got to be very dicey , unless the thinking is that in two years building time it will be profitable with a new spike in price

.Yep , I see that but tar sands came on the stage as an after-wash of the great oil scare of the 70ies then it survived on "research " grants until the early 2000 when the rising tide of crude price was taking everything up with it

Sparky - I'm not that familiar with the actual day to day operations. But I suspect there's a significant lag factor. A company might have been caught by the price drop. But if it had already sunk $200 million in a project but needed to spend $10 or $20 million to finish it and start producing they would. Similar to what a company developing a DW GOM field: once they've sunk $1 BILLION in the field they won't stop the process. At that point those sunk costs are not used in the "go forward" economic analysis.

.Well well , I reckon we might just as well call Peak Oil cancelled for the next couple of years !I'm a believer but do not stand in front of the interstate truck loaded with numbers prices have been dropping sharply for a month and struggling since February.

Some say it's the demand which is soft , but it has risen to a shade under 98m/b , a new recordmeanwhile supply is at a shade above 98m/b , also an all time record the difference is struggling to find a buyer or a storage

The Peak Oil News story, "Is This the Beginning of the End for the Oil Industry?" is a tad old so might not be followed by too many now. So I thought I would offer an alternative perspective here:

Wow! Another “beginning of the end” for the petroleum industry. LOL. Just like the BOTE we experienced in 1946 when the inflation adjusted price dropped to $18/bbl. But then increased until 1973 when we hit the BOTE in 1973 when it hit $20/bbl. But then we jumped to $119/bbl. Until the BOTE hit once more in 1986 when it fell to $25/bbl. But then the real BOTE hit in 1998 when it fell to $13/bbl. But that BOTE lasted only to 2008 when the price increased to $139/bbl.

But son of a bitch, the BOTE hit again in Feb ’09 when it dropped to $35/bbl. Of course that BOTE lasted just a few years until oil went above $100/bbl. Of course then the price plunged to $28/bbl…a nasty hit but still not as bad as $13/bbl as 1998. And then recovered to the current price of $45-$50 per bbl.

But now I’m confused: the current oil price is 2X to 3X higher then when we reached the BOTE multiple times in the last 70 years. So is this the really, not f*cking kidding, BOTE for the industry or are we in a recovery mode and doing better then we have for the majority of the time over the last 7 decades?

The words of this armchair expert say we are seeing the BOTE today but the statistics don’t seem to support that proposition. The most amusing part of the author's ignorance: the periods of very high oil prices are just as good (or better) an indication of future trouble for the industry. But realizing that would require a basic understanding of the E&P process.

And apparently filing bankruptcy was not the "beginning of the end" for the drilling contractor Tidewater: The company's stock price jumped to $24.82 in morning trade, up 18% from an opening trade of $21. The stock had closed Monday at 93 cents.